Spoilers ahead for Death of a Salesman, The Stranger, Follow the River, To Kill a Mockingbird, Romeo and Juliet, and The Great Divorce.
The books I read in my Literature class impacted my freshman year of high school. Through these books I either found myself either enjoying them, falling asleep to them, or getting mad at them. Each one was unique in it's own way and each one told a different story.
The First book we read was The Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller, was a play turned book that told the story of Willy Loman, a troubled salesman whose mental state was off and his family in shambles. Willy's mental illness bears great similarities to that of schizophrenia. I personally thought that the book was actually pretty good. It set the mood and setting right from the start and soon I found myself unable to put the book down. The interactions between the characters is what really made this book so special.
L’Étranger or as we in America call it, The Stranger, was a book written by Albert Camus. The Stranger dealt with the concept of existentialism and how our lives are no significance. The main character, Meursault, is an individual whose emotions seem to be very emotionless until the end of the book when he faces his death. I personally thought that this book moved a little bit too slow for my liking.
The Book Follow the River by incredible, inspiring, and very kind author James Alexander Thom is about a villager from the settlement of Draper's Meadow named Mary Ingles, who is kidnapped by Shawnee native Americans and how she makes her trek back to her settlement with (in my opinion anyways) crazy Irish woman Ghetel. I thought that this book was incredible. I got to actually meet James in person and he remembered mine and my classmates letters to him which he personally responded back to. His writing has inspired me and affected me to make use of dialect and figurative language. He is truly one of the most influential writers I have had the pleasure of meeting.
The Book To Kill a Mockingbird was a book written by Harper Lee. Mockingbird dealt with the concept of racism and racial equality. The main character, Scout, is a girl who is still young and lives with her father Atticus and her brother Jem. Scout has to learn about many things in this world that are unfair, including racism. This book was very eye opening for me. It made me realize how we as teens and kids view the world differently than what it truly is in reality. I actually cried after finishing the book it was so emotional and revealed to myself what I take for granted.
The classic play/show, Romeo and Juliet, is a world famous play written by the greatest playwright of all time, William Shakespeare. Romeo and Juliet takes place in Verona, Italy where the house of Montague, and the house of Capulet are at war with each other and peace is not an option. However, from this conflict sparks a forbidden love. The daughter of Lord Capulet, Juliet Capulet, and the son of Lord Montague, Romeo Montague, fall in love with each other. It is truly a romantic play with combat at many scenes to help keep the action going. I didn't enjoy it myself and I found myself getting bored by it.
The book The Great Divorce was written by the author who brought you The Chronicles of Narnia series, C.S. Lewis. The Great Divorce is set on a bus that takes a trip to Heaven so that ghosts may decide whether they want to stay in Hell, or go to Heaven. On the trip there, there are many conflicts (just like any road trip there is bound to be at least one argument) and each ghost has their own unique backstory. The book itself had a good plot and actual solid character development. However there were times where I wished that Lewis would take a leaf out of J.R.R Tolkien's "book" and at least add a tad bit more action to it. This book has a lot to deal with the concept of what the afterlife might look like and how many interpretations exist of it.
I highly recommend that you read the book, Follow the River by James Alexander Thom. I enjoyed this book because Thom was able to not keep us in the middle of an incredibly long exposition and he was able to make his characters actually seem that they were alive and reading the book with you. I highly recommend this book to any historical fiction readers out there. You will highly enjoy this book and the historical content is both interesting and accurate.
The books I read in my Literature class impacted my freshman year of high school. Through these books I either found myself either enjoying them, falling asleep to them, or getting mad at them. Each one was unique in it's own way and each one told a different story.
The First book we read was The Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller, was a play turned book that told the story of Willy Loman, a troubled salesman whose mental state was off and his family in shambles. Willy's mental illness bears great similarities to that of schizophrenia. I personally thought that the book was actually pretty good. It set the mood and setting right from the start and soon I found myself unable to put the book down. The interactions between the characters is what really made this book so special.
L’Étranger or as we in America call it, The Stranger, was a book written by Albert Camus. The Stranger dealt with the concept of existentialism and how our lives are no significance. The main character, Meursault, is an individual whose emotions seem to be very emotionless until the end of the book when he faces his death. I personally thought that this book moved a little bit too slow for my liking.
The Book Follow the River by incredible, inspiring, and very kind author James Alexander Thom is about a villager from the settlement of Draper's Meadow named Mary Ingles, who is kidnapped by Shawnee native Americans and how she makes her trek back to her settlement with (in my opinion anyways) crazy Irish woman Ghetel. I thought that this book was incredible. I got to actually meet James in person and he remembered mine and my classmates letters to him which he personally responded back to. His writing has inspired me and affected me to make use of dialect and figurative language. He is truly one of the most influential writers I have had the pleasure of meeting.
The Book To Kill a Mockingbird was a book written by Harper Lee. Mockingbird dealt with the concept of racism and racial equality. The main character, Scout, is a girl who is still young and lives with her father Atticus and her brother Jem. Scout has to learn about many things in this world that are unfair, including racism. This book was very eye opening for me. It made me realize how we as teens and kids view the world differently than what it truly is in reality. I actually cried after finishing the book it was so emotional and revealed to myself what I take for granted.
The classic play/show, Romeo and Juliet, is a world famous play written by the greatest playwright of all time, William Shakespeare. Romeo and Juliet takes place in Verona, Italy where the house of Montague, and the house of Capulet are at war with each other and peace is not an option. However, from this conflict sparks a forbidden love. The daughter of Lord Capulet, Juliet Capulet, and the son of Lord Montague, Romeo Montague, fall in love with each other. It is truly a romantic play with combat at many scenes to help keep the action going. I didn't enjoy it myself and I found myself getting bored by it.
The book The Great Divorce was written by the author who brought you The Chronicles of Narnia series, C.S. Lewis. The Great Divorce is set on a bus that takes a trip to Heaven so that ghosts may decide whether they want to stay in Hell, or go to Heaven. On the trip there, there are many conflicts (just like any road trip there is bound to be at least one argument) and each ghost has their own unique backstory. The book itself had a good plot and actual solid character development. However there were times where I wished that Lewis would take a leaf out of J.R.R Tolkien's "book" and at least add a tad bit more action to it. This book has a lot to deal with the concept of what the afterlife might look like and how many interpretations exist of it.
I highly recommend that you read the book, Follow the River by James Alexander Thom. I enjoyed this book because Thom was able to not keep us in the middle of an incredibly long exposition and he was able to make his characters actually seem that they were alive and reading the book with you. I highly recommend this book to any historical fiction readers out there. You will highly enjoy this book and the historical content is both interesting and accurate.
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